Church of St. Dimitry description and photos - Greece: Thessaloniki (Topic)

Church of St. Dimitry description and photos - Greece: Thessaloniki. Detailed information about the attraction. Description, photographs and a map showing the nearest significant objects. The name in English is Church of St. Dimitry.

Photo and description

The Basilica of St. Demetrius is one of the most important shrines in the Greek city of Thessaloniki. The temple was consecrated in honor of the great martyr Demetrius of Thessaloniki, revered by the inhabitants of Thessaloniki as their patron. Among the other early Christian and Byzantine monuments of Thessaloniki, the Basilica of St. Demetrius is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.

The Basilica of St. Demetrius was built on the site of the Roman baths, where in 303 he was imprisoned in one of the premises, and then and Saint Demetrius was martyred. The first temple erected here (presumably in 313-323) was just a small chapel, but already at the beginning of the 5th century it was replaced by a three-nave basilica. According to legend, during the construction of the altar of the temple on the site of the supposed burial of Demetrius, the relics of the saint were found and placed in a silver ciborium.

In the first half of the 7th century, the old basilica was thoroughly destroyed by fire, and was restored with some architectural changes - turned into a five-aisled basilica. During the fire, the ciborium was also lost, and the relics of the saint were placed in a marble tomb. The interior decoration of the basilica was finally completed only in the 9th century. A little later, a small three-sided basilica was added to the temple - the side-chapel of St. Efimiy. At the end of the 12th century, the relics of Saint Demetrius were taken to Italy and returned to Thessaloniki only at the end of the 20th century.

In 1493, the Basilica of Saint Demetrius, Like most Christian churches during the Turkish domination, it was transformed into a mosque - Kasymye-jami, and magnificent mosaics and wall paintings are hidden behind a thick layer of plaster or simply destroyed. It is worth noting that during this period Christians were allowed access to the cenotaph of St. Demetrius, located in a small side-chapel with a separate entrance. The ancient shrine returned to Christians only after the liberation of the city in 1912.

Unfortunately, the notorious devastating fire in Thessaloniki in August 1917 also destroyed a significant part of the Basilica of St. Demetrius. The restoration work stretched out for several decades, but as a result, it was possible to preserve the original parts of the temple that survived in the fire and very accurately recreate the general architectural appearance of the 7th century basilica. In the course of the work, the entrance to the crypt and many unique artifacts were discovered, as well as miraculously preserved mosaics and several frescoes were cleared. Some of the mosaics still adorn the interior of the basilica, some you can see by going down to the crypt, where today there is a small but very interesting archaeological museum, the exposition of which includes sculptures, mosaics, various church relics, historical documents, etc. However, the crypt itself is also very interesting, where, as it is believed, the remains of St. Demetrius were buried for some time, and today you can still see a marble shell intended for collecting the world flowing from the relics of the saint.

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Topic: Church of St. Dimitry description and photos - Greece: Thessaloniki.